Our Slog (Ships Log) with a Satelite View

The Ecuadorian Andes are unimaginably beautiful. Most of the people living here are subsistence farmers and while thatÃ?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã¢â??Â¢s tough on the forest and the animals, it makes for very little pollution or material excess that usually clutters up the land, like shopping malls. I never thought I would like the Andes as much as I do. Perhaps it is because I havenÃ?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã¢â??Â¢t been in any serious mountains in many years, or perhaps it is because it is amazing here.

We have been adjusting to the thin air here at about 11,000 to 12,000 feet. Today we went on a trip to a second growth forest that was about 12,000 feet high. There were many plants and mosses that we often saw in the rain forests near Seattle.

The village we are staying in has only one store that carries staples and no restaurants. Luckily the Cloud Forest Hostel has been extremely accomodating and two meals are included in the price of our room.

It gets very cold at night and we usually wear three layers of clothes. There are no heaters in the rooms, but occasionally we have hot water. This is really a world away from our boat and our little kitties, whom we hope are behaving themselves.

This picture shows one of the hundreds of valleys and farming tracts mixed in with the clouds.